Communication
by juuvi09
Summary: A deeper look into Gray's emotions and his relationship with Juvia, from the first encounter to post-Spriggan war. Starts out relatively dark and serious but has a light twist at the end. Angst, fluff, and a little sexiness; that's basically this fic in a nutshell. (Spoilers for manga chapters up to 505 if you squint, but you don't have to be caught up to enjoy!)


**Hey guys! So I've been a fan of Fairy Tail for a while now; in fact, its become my favorite anime and manga. It took a while, but I FINALLY finished a Gruvia fanfic (they are my favorite pairing)! I'm a bit rusty, so pardon grammatical errors. I tried to focus on tone and expression more than formality this time (of course, I still had to force myself to stop editing after two hours of revisions).**

 ***warning* There is a couple scattered f-bombs and other swear words, but I** **didn't want to move up the rating because I felt it was nothing too severe.** **I wrote with as much emotion as I could and I refuse to remove the rawness.** **If it makes you uncomfortable, however, I recommend you do not read.**

 **I hope you enjoy regardless, and if you do, please let me know! Reading those reviews makes hours spent on writing and revising at 3AM so worth it.**

* * *

Gray had never been the outspoken type.

Sure, he could scream insults at "Flamebrain" all day long, but when it came to him and his feelings or desires, forget it. He'd rather trade outfits with his Edolas self (and Gray didn't think that even he could strip off _that_ many layers). Luckily, growing up nobody pushed him to talk about personal stuff. When they talked to him, it was usually to provoke a brawl, and he was more than okay with that. Excited, even. That's how most people in Fairy Tail dealt with their messed up pasts: they brawled until their fists bled and their bones snapped, all to drown out the pain. He once said that he would prefer physical scars to emotional ones; Gray still stood strongly by that to this day. He just wanted to punch his way through life, thickening and thickening his skin until he forgot the brokenness underneath.

He didn't need to feel. He didn't _want_ to feel.

And then _she_ showed up.

Voluminous cerulean hair the resembled the ocean waves on a hot summer day. Curvaceous, oh-so-tempting figure that drew men in like the devil's own sweet whispers. Slim, elongated legs that attracted eyes no matter where she went. Full, rosy lips that were almost always in a perpetual smile. Unique, elegant eyes that slanted upwards, showcasing stunning deep blue orbs that shone with kindness and patience.

Juvia Lockser.

That succubus of a water mage had made him feel things he hadn't felt in a long time the second he met her. They weren't necessarily _good_ feelings, but they were strong feelings, and Gray strongly disliked it. But when those strong feelings started to become good ones, Gray _hated it_.

Everytime he saw that beautiful petite figure, he wanted to keep it all to himself, his alone to explore. When Gray looked at her face, he couldn't help but notice that her top lip was rounded and slightly fuller than her bottom lip, and he wondered if they tasted as sweet as the cherry hue they carried. When he saw the guild mark shining proudly on her right thigh, he felt a sudden urge to run his hands all over it and feel the smooth texture of her skin sliding underneath his.

But what really terrified Gray was her eyes. When he looked into her eyes, he could see the amount of love she held in those hypnotizing blue depths, and he felt as though she was projecting it straight to his soul. All this time, Juvia had patiently worked through his toughened skin and settled in the cracks between the pieces of his shattered soul. She had become the glue that held him together, and that _fucking_ _terrified_ him.

Juvia was precious to him, but Gray knew he was so much more than that to Juvia. It scared him. It scared him so much. Gray had tried to keep her away, but she was so fucking persistent, so fucking _patient_ that he couldn't get her scent off his skin no matter how far away he ran.

Gray loved her. He fucking _loved_ her. He might have taken away the rain that had haunted Juvia all her life, but she had done something much more impressive for him. She didn't show him the sun; she _became_ the sun. She illuminated the ever-present night that Gray had come to accept inside himself. He might have shown her how beautiful the sky could be, but she had shown him how beautiful the entire _world_ could be. Gray knew that if he lost her, it would shatter him beyond repair. The shadows that chased him were relentless. He had to get farther away. She couldn't know how he felt.

Regardless, he unwittingly promised her an answer, an answer that he realized he would never give as he clutched her cold, lifeless body to his chest and screamed his heart out. The warmth was gone. She was gone.

His sun had been extinguished.

Cherry hue gone from her cracked, dry lips, cerulean strands nearly unrecognizable from the blood and grime caked in her hair, and her eyes closed in eternal slumber, looking anything but peaceful.

Her beautiful, unique, soul-piercing eyes, never to open again. It was at this thought that Gray truly shattered.

However, there she was, standing before him only hours later. He thought it was a dream, but he knew from the ache in his own fresh wound he was very much awake. As he lost consciousness, his last thought was of how much he loved her, and that he would confess everything after this was all over.

The war ended, and Gray, not an outspoken man, somehow managed to muster out those three magic words. He could still see the glimmering tears in her wide blue eyes, like crystals floating amongst deep ocean waves. Her hands had flown to her mouth as she shook, unable to comprehend what she had heard. Juvia was selfless; she would have gladly dedicated her life to Gray even without reciprocation of her feelings. However, Gray didn't want that life for her. Screw his shadows; Gray was ready to find his light, and luckily she was standing right in front of him. She might be sobbing his name into his chest, sniffling and hiccuping, but god, she was so beautiful, and Gray couldn't wait to bask in her light for the rest of his life.

Unfortunately, now a few months later and very accustomed to being together, Gray was still absolute shit at expressing his feelings. Gray sighed and raked his hand through his hair, hearing the faint clinking of dishes as Juvia cleaned up their dinnerware. He wanted her and he wanted her now. Juvia was good at hinting both subtly and not-so-subtly when she really wanted him. Gray, however...not so much.

"Damn..." muttered Gray. _Maybe I shouldn't bother this time, considering we fooled around a fair bit last night,_ Gray thought. His skin got heated up at the memory. Man, she had looked so sexy with that embarrassed flush on her face when he flipped her over and–

 _Shit, shit, shit!_

Gray could hear her delicate footsteps approach him from behind the couch he was sitting on. He breathed deeply to try and calm himself down, and after a few seconds he felt her arms slide over his shoulders and rest on his chest softly.

"Gray-sama looks tense. Juvia would be happy to give him a massage if he's feeling stressed," she offered sweetly, her gentle voice sending warm air into his ear. Gray tensed even more. He struggled to remember how he initiated this last time since Juvia did it so frequently he almost never had to.

"Gray-sama?"

Gray twisted around to look at her.

 _Fuck._

She was only wearing a tantalizingly short t-shirt that threatened to expose her underwear with every reach of her arm, and her hair flowed freely around her face with just a hint of bed head from their "wrestling" last night, just the way he liked it. Oh, this woman was going to be the end of him. He couldn't take this anymore!

"Gray-sa—"

Without letting her finish, Gray leapt over the couch and scooped her up in his arms in one swift motion, his face focused and determined. Juvia's face flushed red as her panties were exposed and shyly looked up at Gray.

"Um, Juvia doesn't quite understand..."

Gray immediately began stomping over to the bedroom, kicking open the door. He then promptly tossed her on the bed, causing her t-shirt to fly way up and expose her tightened abdomen. Gray threw off his shirt and walked up to the bed where Juvia was lying frozen with her shirt half-way off her body and lacy blue underwear on full display.

"Let's do this." Gray spoke in the same tone he'd use if he was gearing up for some sort of important battle. Juvia squeaked loudly as Gray pounced on her, kissing her neck.

"Oh, Gray-sama, you're so bold!" she squealed, already melting at his touch. Everywhere his lips touched burned with passion and desire, and Juvia was in _heaven_.

After quickly discarding the t-shirt that hid the rest of her magnificence from him, Gray trailed his fingers slowly from her delicate collarbones to her voluptuous hips whilst burning his searing kiss into her equally hungry lips. What Juvia lacked in experience, she certainly made up for in enthusiasm. Gray hooked a finger around the waistband of her underwear, pulling teasingly at it.

"I know we just ate, but I think I caught a whiff of something so tempting I just have to have a little taste. You don't mind, do you?"

Gray paused to kiss her rapidly rising and falling stomach, but he wasn't done yet.

"Because if I taste any more of you...you're so delicious I won't be able to stop until you're screaming my name."

" _Oh, Gray-_ _sama_ _!~"_

Gray may not be good at expressing his feelings, and maybe he never would be. Though, he thought to himself as Juvia giggled in delight beneath him that as long as he could keep that angelic smile on her face, he really didn't care.

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 **If you want me to write the entire ending with all the smutty goodness, let me know! Despite the cussing, I did try to keep this T rated.**

 **Fun fact: In Japanese, they don't have cuss words per se, instead they use more figurative insults. Thus, when translated into English translators often have to assume based on the character how harsh of a swear word they would use, or if they'd swear at all! That's kind of why I gave Gray a pretty dirty mouth; I feel like he isn't one to filter his words.**

 **Based on the head canon by _gottalovegruvia_ on tumblr: _Gray seems like the type who would suck at telling Juvia when he wants her, so instead he just picks her up and carries her to the bedroom._**

 **Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate any feedback, even short messages! Have a nice day~**

 **-Maria**


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